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National Adoption Awareness Month: Sandra Bullock

Sandra Annette Bullock is an American actress, producer, and philanthropist. After making her acting debut with a minor role in the thriller Hangmen (1987), she received early attention for her performance in the sci-fi action film Demolition Man (1993). Her breakthrough came in the action thriller Speed (1994). A line of successful films followed throughout the 1990s, including While You Were Sleeping (1995), The Net (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), and Hope Floats (1998).

Bullock achieved further success in the following decades in Miss Congeniality (2000), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Crash (2004), The Proposal (2009), The Heat (2013), and Ocean’s 8 (2018). She was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in the biographical drama The Blind Side (2009), and was nominated in the same categories for her performance in the thriller Gravity (2013). Bullock’s greatest commercial success is the animated comedy Minions (2015), which grossed over $1 billion at the box office. In 2007, she was one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses, and in 2015, she ranked as the highest-paid actress. She was also named “Most Beautiful Woman” by People magazine in 2015.

In addition to her acting career, Bullock is the founder of the production company Fortis Films. She has produced some of the films in which she starred, including Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) and All About Steve (2009). She was an executive producer of the ABC sitcom George Lopez (2002–07), and made several appearances during its run.

Bullock announced on April 28, 2010 that she had proceeded with plans to adopt a son born in January 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana.[132] Bullock and James had begun an initial adoption process four months earlier. Bullock’s son began living with them in January 2010, but they chose to keep the news private until after the Oscars in March 2010. However, given the couple’s separation and then divorce, Bullock continued the adoption of her son as a single parent.

In December 2015, Bullock announced that she had adopted a second child, and appeared on the cover of People magazine with her then ​3 1⁄2-year-old new daughter.

The 53-year-old actress has two adopted children – Louis, eight, and Laila, five – and Sandra has admitted that it wasn’t until the deadly tropical storm struck the US in 2005 that she became convinced parenthood was her destiny.

A teary-eyed Sandra – whose son was born in New Orleans, which was devastated by the natural disaster – explained: “I did think, ‘Maybe not.’ Then [Hurricane] Katrina happened. I’m going to cry … Katrina happened in New Orleans and something told me, ‘My child is there.’ It was weird.”

Despite her initial doubts about becoming a parent, Sandra – whose divorce from Jesse James was finalized in 2010 – immediately felt comfortable with her child in her arms.

Speaking to the ‘Today’ show, the Hollywood actress recalled: “I looked at him like, ‘Oh, there you are.’ It was like he had always been there.

“He fit in the crook of my arm. He looked me in the eyes. He was wise. My child was wise.”

Sandra was initially unsure about what to expect from mother.

But the ‘Ocean’s 8’ star admitted that a lot of the advice she’s received over the years only made sense the moment she looked at her child for the first time.

Sandra said: “The beautiful thing that I was constantly told was, ‘The perfect child will find you. You will find your child.’ But you don’t believe that when it’s not happening. When you’re going, ‘Where is my family?’

“When it does happen, you know exactly what they’re talking about.”

And it was Sandra’s son Louis who convinced the actress to adopt for a second time in 2015.

During a conversation between Sandra and some of her friends, who were discussing their daughters, a then three-year-old Louis said: “Yeah, I don’t have daughters. But I’m going to have a baby soon.”

Sandra added: “I realised at that time, maybe he knew something. And when I think about it, it would have been around the time that Laila was born.”

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“Abby’s Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and how Facebook, Aquaman and Theodore Roosevelt Helped” leads a couple through their days of infertility treatments and adoption. It is told with gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) humor from the perspective of a nerdy father and his loving and understanding wife.

Join Mike and Esther as they go through IUIs and IFVs, as they search for an adoption agency, are selected by a birth mother, prepare their house, prepare their family, prepare themselves and wait for their daughter to be born a thousand miles from home.

WINNER: 2015 Reader’s Favorite Book Award Finalist, Non-Fiction Humor

WINNER: Honorable Mention, 2015 New York Book Festival!

WINNER: Honorable Mention, 2014 Great Midwest Book Festival

Abby’s Road is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and at Smashwords.